PlusNet mobile in Bahrain not working

[#1]

Sorry if this is a little long winded, but I've done a fair few checks and can't resolve this issue.

My iPhone handset and PlusNet account work in the UK. Everything is fine and dandy. When I went on a recent holiday to the US, my phone worked there too, no issues.

I came back to work in Bahrain and none of the networks here will work. I have tried restarting my phone, putting into Flight Mode and then back to normal, I have tried my SIM in my fiancee's unlocked phone, all without any success.

If I put her SIM into my phone, it works, so it's not my phone that is an issue.

Seeing as she's with EE in the UK, I tried to manually select the network her SIM connects to ( Batelco the local carrier ), on my PlusNet SIM, but that didn't work either.

Normally this isn't a massive issue as I don't use data or SMS out here ( costs are staggering ), but I recently had to change my phone which means I have had to re-activate apps like my mobile banking, WhatsApp and FaceTime and the only way to do that is to confirm my number by entering a code that is sent by SMS, which I never receive.

I understand that PlusNet uses EE's network in the UK and EE mobiles work in Bahrain, but my SIM will not work here and my only conclusion is that however PlusNet uses EE's network ( re-branded SIMs ? ) it's not carrying over to less frequently used networks ( I assume that Europe is fine, as is the US ).

Is there a way this can be raised to the Network/Accounts team for resolutions, please ?

[#2]

Hi, it's possible you've been caught out by one of these 2 problems:

1) It's not possible to receive short code texts , see here https://community.plus.net/t5/Mobile/Call-from-TSB-has-stopped-me-receiving-calls-and-texts/m-p/1442...

2) Roaming is disabled if you reach your Smart cap https://community.plus.net/t5/Mobile/Smart-Cap-reached-when-roaming-no-connection-Then-what/m-p/1442...

[#3]

Thanks for the reply and the suggestions.

I have never had connection out in Bahrain, so I won't have hit a roaming cap ( I did in the US, so I know it works ).

I'm not getting a network connection at all, so text length isn't an issue either.

From what I can see this ( and many other ) roaming issues are down to how the SIM in my phone 'presents' itself to the local carrier.

My fiancee has an EE SIM and when it attempts to connect, it tells the receiving tower it's EE...the local network looks through it's access lists and finds which carriers accept connections from an EE SIM and creates a connection.

My PlusNet SIM doesn't say it's EE, so the local carrier cannot see who to bill to, so refuses to connect.

[#4]

In that case it sounds like you have a basic problem with roaming in Bahrain. You'll need to contact Customer support to try and sort it out.

[#5]

Already asked CS and they say roaming is enabled.

[#6]

From other posts it's disappointing that they seem incapable ( or unwilling! ) to investigate roaming issues. Rather they just fall back on 'we don't guarantee roaming' when in fact that statement is really referring to not being able to guarantee network coverage when roaming, which is quite reasonable.

I've been around these forums for some while now on the Broadband side and I'm used to the Help Team there taking reported issues seriously, investigating and openly reporting any findings . The mobile help team seem to have a very different approach, just regurgitate the T & C's and hide any issues.